Customer Reviews

Review by Video Production Editor/Videographer

Average rating:5out of5stars, based on0reviews

I have really enjoyed this product. Working in the video production industry I have mostly been around Sony and Panasonic brand electronics. I have always considered Magnavox/Phillips to be low-end consumer brand electronics. This product has proven me wrong. I have tried 2 other DVD-Recorders within the last couple of months one Panasonic and one Sony. They both disappointed me with their lack of features, faulty timer recording, and poor quality digital tuners. This Magnavox HDD/DVD recorder is by far better than both the Sony and Panasonic I owned and returned. I love the menu design and options. The digital tuner is very high quality producing a great 480i/p down-convert picture for SD televisions and the 1080p HDMI up-conversion when watching DVD's is outstanding. I recommend this Magnavox HDD/DVD recorder 95%. My only complaint is the cheep dvd tray, it feels very loose and the motor makes much more noise than I am used to on my Mac Tower Pros and other computer dvd drives.

A Terrific Product

Average rating:5out of5stars, based on0reviews

I have had this product about a month now and it is really terrific!
PROS: It tends to eliminate the use of DVDs by using the Hard Disk Drive for all the recording. I thought it would be hard to edit out commercials from cable movies, but it works very well. This recorder is very sophisticated and I had to read the manual several times, but it works just like the manual describes. At this point I have used just about every feature offered. If you order it, I'm sure you will like it also.
One feature I really like is the remote control. It is laid out very logically. Everything is right where I would have put it. That's hard to say about most remotes.
CONS: The only area I am disappointed in is it doesn't offer Closed Captioning on regular recorded, “Cable" or VCR source programs. I have lost some of my hearing, and it helps to have the Closed Captioning turned on.
I have also used this recorder to record movies that I have saved on VCR, eliminate the commercials and then burn them to DVD. This is a GREAT Product!

great device

Average rating:5out of5stars, based on0reviews

The Magnovox 160gb DVR works well, but is not for the non technical. However if you want to save the monthly fees for renting a DVR from the cable co. it is worth learning how to operate this unit.
It also has a dvd recorder which is very handy if you have multiple tv's and you want to dub a copy to play in another room or want to share a movie with your friends or family. However be forewarned not all blank DVD's are created equal. Memorex and other 2nd rate brands will not record on this unit. I am using the Verbatim brand, model digital movie DVD-R 8x which works well (bought at Micro Center). However, when recording from HDD to DVD you need to either remove all your scheduled timer programs or set your source input (from the remote) to L-3 (DV-1N) or the DVD will not finalize (you need to finalize the recorded DVD to play in most DVD recorders)
The DVR works flawlessly with good video & sound quality and depending on what speed mode you choose you can record over 175 hours of video on its sizable 160 GB hard drive.

Very Happy With Purchase

Average rating:5out of5stars, based on0reviews

Wow, I had no idea this type of item was on the market, basically a digital version of a VCR but much, much more impressive.
The built in digital tuner picked up every digital channel available in my area and the HD channels looks great when using an HDMI cable (not provided) in package.
The unit also buffers Live TV so you can pause and rewind Live TV without having to record, that is stuff I thought was only avail with the leased Cable and Sat units.
I also love the VSkip feature when watching a recording, jumps right through commercials with a breeze, as well as the Chase play feature which allows you to watch a recording from the beginning while still recording.
To sum it up, it is an incredible buy at this price it plays and records great, you just have to make sure you are using proper DVD's as decsribed in the manual.
I have no complaints with it at this time, I recommend it to anyone looking to step up to the next level in live TV recording, or to fire the Sat and Cable companies and their leased equipment.
Hope this helps in your decision making process, you will not regret this purchase believe me.

FIRMWARE UPDATE AVAILABLE FOR E19 ERROR

Average rating:5out of5stars, based on0reviews

Funai has released a firmware (FW) update for the Mag 2160A with mfg dates in 2009. It is NOT for original 2160's mfg in 2008.
This is supposed to fix the E19 error seen when Finalizing DVD discs or Formatting or Erasing RW discs, which you might not even know are NOT Formatted since it's an auto-operation that occurs immediately on loading a NEW RW disc and makes it ready for recording.
Here's the Funai Support site with the FW download and instructions:
http://funaiservice.com/information/firmware.cfm
Here's a help file on the TWO ways to fix the E19 bug: (1) the FW Download mentioned above, and (2) a simple workaround of setting the Mag on L3 (DV) input:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=17340385&postcount=6962
Lots of other help files are here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940657

Great features for low price

Average rating:5out of5stars, based on0reviews

This DVD/DVR is packed with features and so far works great. I connected it with a cable splitter from the wall so that I can record while watching other channels on the TV. I also use it as a second tuner for the PIP on my VIZIO TV. I read many reviews before I bought it and learned about the issues with finalizing DVD and the work around. I also use it to convert VHS and miniDV tapes to DVD's.
One good suggestion that I found was:
In order to finalize a disc WITHOUT deleting all of your upcoming program timers:
1) - Press the SOURCE button on the remote and choose "L3 (DV) input"
2) - Insert the disc, go to the "Disc Edit Menu" and choose FINALIZE.
------- Notes -------
*** It is NOT necessary to delete your upcoming timer programs with this workaround.
*** Do not finalize a disc IF you have an upcoming program to record within the next hour.

Faulty Unit??

Average rating:1out of5stars, based on0reviews

Just received this recorder yesterday and had problems with it from the start. I recorded some stuff off tv onto a dvd+ r and when I went to finalize it the progress bar would go to 1% and that's as far as it would go. I waited for a few minutes and then got an error-19 code on the screen that said it basically couldn't perform this task. I tried with 2 more dvd+rs and got the same results so I went online and found that this was a pretty common flaw with this model and the only way to get it to finalize is to unplug it for awhile then try again. This worked perfectly but I'm not going to unplug this machine every time it won't finalize. That's very unacceptable! I'm returning this one to Wally World for a refund and will buy another new one of these to see if it has the same problem. I really like the design and features of this dvd recorder and hope the next one is in perfect working condition, I'll review that one when it arrives as well. Oh, by the way it won't record to dvd-rw either.

Great product for recording.

Average rating:5out of5stars, based on0reviews

The Magnavox 160GB DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner is a great product. If you have had a Panasonic DMR E85H before this product is a great replacement. It will do evrything the panasonic would do. It does all you could want in a DVD recorder. You can record to the internal hard drive and if you want to keep the recording just copy it to DVD disc. You can edit youre recording to cut out unwanted content such as commercails ect.. You can also copy several shows to disc at one time. You can name youre recordings and save a specific sreen shot as the picture you see for the show list. This recorder will do it all. I love it.
Note: It may be a little confusing to some if they havnt had this type of recorder before. But once fimiliar with the product I believe you will love it as well.

Large Learning Curve

Average rating:4out of5stars, based on0reviews

The first one I received the DVD door would not open. Called Magnavox and they quickly said to return it. The second one I recieved seems to be working fine. I'm a gadget guy but this is a new level of difficulty to master. Manual is only so-so- but it is a difficult machine to teach someone. Big thick manual. For simple recording you should be fine,
Unless you already know what dubbing is and means, you'll have a little difficulty mastering this machine. I have a line running from my Directv DVR and I'll use this for making DVDs from home movies. So far, I've been able to record signals coming from my DVR with no problem. You may have more issues recording some content via OTA because my input is RCA cable from the DVR. I do plan on hooking up an OTA antenna just to give me more options. Record well from my camcorder and I'm happy that's all working fine. Give it a shot but plan on spending some time with the manual and making a couple of errors.

Unit does not record in HD

Average rating:4out of5stars, based on0reviews

There has been some confusion in the various posts regarding what format this product records in. Page 42 of the manual states that: "All high definition pictures will be down converted to the standard definition pictures when they are recorded on this unit." It further states on pg 45 that "This unit cannot record images as aspect ratio of 16:9. The 16.9 images will be recorded as 4:3." You can still select your playback of the material to be 16:9, but the image will be stretched to some extent to fill it. Either way, the recording is still digital and will look good, it just won't be HD quality so don't set your expectations incorrectly.